Frame Page Displaying Method, Frame Page Displaying Device, and Program

ABSTRACT

In a state in which an operation screen for operating a frame in a frame page has been displayed, whether a change occurring to a frame in the page different from the currently displayed frame is a change arising from an operation satisfying a condition that is regarded to represent a user&#39;s explicit intention to view the different frame or not is judged. If the change is judged by the judgment to be a change arising from an operation satisfying the condition, the display is shifted to a screen showing the page in whole display and notifying the user of the frame to which the change has occurred.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the display of frames which is made bybrowser software for the browsing of content on a network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Against the background of the increasing use of the Internet, thebrowsing of Web pages (hereinafter referred to as “pages”) on theInternet is widely done in recent years also on mobile terminal devicessuch as cellular phones and PDAs. However, content on the Internet iscreated generally for PCs (Personal Computers) having relatively largescreens, and thus the browsing of pages on a mobile terminal devicehaving a relatively small screen and restricted types of mountableoperation keys can result in deteriorated convenience for the usercompared to the browsing of pages on a PC.

For example, in the case of a frame page (a page expressed by use of the<frameset> tag), displaying the page on a small display screen resultsin low visibility of the displayed content since the frame page issegmented into a plurality of frames. Configurations for improving theuser convenience during the frame display have been proposed in JapanesePatent Publication No. 344590 (hereinafter referred to as a “documentNo. 1”), Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2000-298543(hereinafter referred to as a “document No. 2”) and Japanese PatentProvisional Publication No. 2002-268788 (hereinafter referred to as a“document No. 3”) as described below.

The document No. 1 describes the switching between a whole displayscreen including a plurality of frames and a zoom display screen of aframe according to a user operation through a tablet during the displayof a page including a plurality of frames. In the case where a frame isdisplayed in the zoom display, a partial display icon indicating theposition of the currently zoom displayed frame in the page is displayedon a part of the display screen.

The document No. 2 describes the switching of an active frame byoperating a switching button in the state in which the whole displayscreen including a plurality of frames has been displayed or in thestate in which the zoom display screen of a frame has been displayed.The switching buttons are displayed on a part of the screen and theswitching of the active frame is performed by the user by designating aswitching button by use of an input pen.

The document No. 3 describes the zoom display of a selected frame whichis made when a frame is selected by the user in a state in which a pageincluding a plurality of frames has been displayed. In the zoom displaystate of a frame, the user is allowed to perform operations such asanchor selection. The frame selection is made by the user by performingan operation such as a key entry.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

However, there exist several things that should be considered from theviewpoint of user convenience as described below. For example, in astate in which a frame A has been displayed in the zoom display to beoperable (active) due to the user's selection of the frame A from ascreen of a page made up of three frames A, B and C, even when a changesuch as the loading of new content has occurred to another frame (B orC) due to a user operation such as anchor selection in the frame A, theuser can not recognize the change if the display screen remains in thezoom display of the frame A. Incidentally, such a change in anotherframe during the zoom display of the frame A can occur when the frame Bhas been specified by a target attribute in an anchor selected in theframe A, for example.

Meanwhile, in the configuration of the document No. 3, the content ofthe zoom display screen in the above situation shifts from the frame Ato the frame B according to the target attribute in the anchor. However,with such a configuration, the user can hardly recognize which frame ison the screen after the transition from the zoom display of the frame A.Further, such a transition to a changed frame upon each occurrence of achange in another frame in the state in which the user who has purposelyselected the frame A is operating the frame A is undesirable from theviewpoint of user convenience.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the aboveproblems of the conventional techniques. It is therefore the primaryobject of the present invention to provide a terminal device, a framedisplaying method and a program capable of enhancing the userconvenience during the display of frame pages.

In order to achieve the above object, in accordance with an aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a method for displaying a framepage, comprising the steps of: judging in a state in which an operationscreen for operating a frame in the frame page has been displayedwhether a change occurring to a frame in the page different from thecurrently displayed frame is a change arising from an operationsatisfying a condition that is regarded to represent a user's explicitintention to view the different frame or not; and controlling display sothat the display is shifted to a screen on which the page is displayedin whole display if the change is judged by the judgment to be a changearising from an operation satisfying the condition.

With the above configuration, in the browsing of a frame page, thedisplay is controlled so that the whole display screen is displayed whena change has occurred to another frame in the state in which theselected frame is operable and the change has been caused by a useroperation, by which the convenience for the user during the browsing offrame pages can be enhanced.

In order to achieve the above object, in accordance with an aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a frame displaying method,comprising the steps of: displaying a whole display screen on which thewhole of an acquired frame page is shown and selection of a frame ispossible; displaying an operation screen, on which a frame selected by auser is operable, when the frame is selected by the user on the wholedisplay screen; and judging in a state in which the operation screen hasbeen displayed whether a change occurring to a frame in the pagedifferent from the selected frame is a change arising from an operationsatisfying a first condition that is regarded to represent a user'sexplicit intention to view the different frame or not, and shiftingdisplay to a display of a screen, corresponding to the whole display andnotifying the user of the frame to which the change has occurred, if thechange is judged by the judgment to be a change arising from anoperation satisfying the first condition.

With the above configuration, in the browsing of a frame page, when achange has occurred to another frame in the state in which the selectedframe is operable and the change has been caused by a user operation,the display is returned to the whole display screen while notifying theuser of the frame (segment) to which the change has occurred, by whichthe convenience for the user during the browsing of frame pages can beenhanced.

The above frame displaying method may further comprise the step of:judging in the state in which the operation screen has been displayedwhether a change occurring to a frame in the page different from theselected frame is a change arising from an operation satisfying a secondcondition that is regarded not to represent a user's explicit intentionto view the different frame or not, and controlling the display so thatthe transition to the display corresponding to the whole display is notmade if the change is judged by the judgment to be a change arising froman operation satisfying the second condition.

The display may be shifted to an operation screen on which the frame towhich the change has occurred is operable automatically after thedisplay corresponding to the whole display is made due to the judgmentthat the change is a change arising from an operation satisfying thefirst condition.

A display letting the user select whether to shift to an operationscreen, on which the frame to which the change has occurred is operable,or not may be made after the display corresponding to the whole displayis made due to the judgment that the change is a change arising from anoperation satisfying the first condition.

The operation satisfying the first condition may include at least one ofthe following operations:

anchor selection caused by a user operation in the selected frame,

form transmission caused by a user operation in the selected frame,

image map selection caused by a user operation in the selected frame,and

script operation activated by a user operation in the selected frame.

The operation satisfying the second condition may include at least oneof the following operations:

an operation occurring in the acquired page due to a markup language ora communication protocol independently of user operations, and

an operation of a script activated in the acquired page independently ofuser operations.

The display may be controlled so that the transition to the displaycorresponding to the whole display is not made when it is judged that achange occurs to data in the selected frame, a parent frame of theselected frame or an ancestor frame of the selected frame in the statein which the operation screen has been displayed.

In another configuration, the transition to the display corresponding tothe whole display may be made when it is judged that a change occurs todata in the selected frame, a parent frame of the selected frame or anancestor frame of the selected frame in the state in which the operationscreen has been displayed.

A display letting the user select whether to shift to the displaycorresponding to the whole display or not may be made when it is judgedthat a change occurs to data in the selected frame, a parent frame ofthe selected frame or an ancestor frame of the selected frame in thestate in which the operation screen has been displayed.

Whether or not to shift to the display corresponding to the wholedisplay when it is judged that a change occurs to data in the selectedframe, a parent frame of the selected frame or an ancestor frame of theselected frame in the state in which the operation screen has beendisplayed may be determined according to a user setting which has beeninputted previously.

The transition to the display corresponding to the whole display may bemade when a change further segmenting the selected frame into frames hasoccurred in the state in which the operation screen has been displayed.

When the acquired frames are first displayed in the whole display, theframes may be set in a selectable state successively from a frame forwhich data acquisition has been completed.

When the frames are first displayed in the whole display, the frames maybe set in a selectable state successively from a frame that is judged,during data acquisition for the frames, not to be further segmented intoframes.

The user selection of a frame on the whole display screen may be made bymoving a focus position by use of a directional key and operating aconfirmation key.

The user selection of a frame on the whole display screen may also madeby the user's designation of one of operation buttons of the framesdisplayed on the display screen by use of an input pen.

The user selection of a frame on the whole display screen may beimplemented by letting the user perform an operation for enlarging adesired frame and regarding a frame exceeding a prescribed size due tothe user operation as a frame selected by the user.

The user selection of a frame on the whole display screen may also beimplemented by letting the user perform an operation for changing adisplay area of a desired frame and regarding a frame whose display areahas exceeded a prescribed size due to the user operation as a frameselected by the user.

The user selection of a frame on the whole display screen may also beimplemented by assigning prescribed keys respectively to the frames andselecting a frame corresponding to one of the assigned keys that isoperated by the user.

When the frame displaying method is configured to display a menu screen,allowing selection of a type of display screen to which the displayshould be shifted, on the operation screen regarding the selected frame,the menu screen may include an item for designating transition to thescreen corresponding to the whole display.

Data regarding a scroll position or a focus position on the operationscreen of the selected frame may be stored when the transition from thestate in which the operation screen of the selected frame has beendisplayed to another screen such as the screen corresponding to thewhole display is made, and the stored data may be used later forrestoration of the focus position when the operation screen of theselected frame is displayed again.

On the operation screen of the selected frame, the selected frame may bedisplayed in zoom display throughout the display screen.

On the operation screen of the selected frame, the selected frame andother frames in the page may be displayed at the same time while placingthe selected frame at the top of the display screen.

On the operation screen of the selected frame, the selected frame andother frames in the page may be displayed at the same time as inlineframes while placing the selected frame at the top of the displayscreen.

The notification of the frame to which the change has occurred may bemade on the display corresponding to the whole display by one of thefollowing methods:

setting the frame in a focused state,

displaying the frame in blinking display,

issuing a message, and

displaying an icon overlaid on the frame.

Content of each frame may be displayed in each frame on the wholedisplay screen.

The whole display screen regarding the acquired frame page and thescreen corresponding to the whole display which is displayed after thejudgment may be thumbnail display screens of the page.

The frame displaying method described above may be implemented as acomputer program. It is possible to implement a terminal devicecomprising control means which is configured to execute the above framedisplaying method. It is also possible to implement a cellular phonecomprising control means which is configured to execute the above framedisplaying method.

In order to achieve the above object, in accordance with another aspectof the present invention, there is provided a displaying method formaking frame-incompatible display in which frame segmentation is notmade. The displaying method comprises the steps of: displaying anoperation screen on which a frame in an acquired frame page is operable;and judging in a state in which the operation screen has been displayedwhether a change occurring to a frame in the page different from thecurrently displayed frame is a change arising from an operationsatisfying a condition that is regarded to represent a user's explicitintention to view the different frame or not, and notifying the user ofthe frame to which the change has occurred if the change is judged bythe judgment to be a change arising from an operation satisfying thecondition.

With the above configuration, when a change has occurred to anotherframe in the state in which a frame is operable and the change has beencaused by a user operation, the user is notified of the frame (segment)to which the change has occurred. Therefore, even in frame-incompatiblebrowsing, the convenience for the user during the browsing of framepages can be enhanced.

The notification may be made by displaying a dialog regarding the frameto which the change has occurred. The notification may also be made bydisplaying a message representing the frame to which the change hasoccurred.

In order to achieve the above object, in accordance with another aspectof the present invention, there is provided a computer program forletting a computer implement the following functions:

a function of displaying a whole display screen on which the whole of anacquired frame page is shown and selection of a frame is possible;

a function of displaying an operation screen, on which a frame selectedby a user is operable, when the frame is selected by the user on thewhole display screen; and

a function of judging in a state in which the operation screen has beendisplayed whether a change occurring to a frame in the page differentfrom the selected frame is a change arising from an operation satisfyinga condition that is regarded to represent a user's explicit intention toview the different frame or not, and shifting display to a display of ascreen, corresponding to the whole display and notifying the user of theframe to which the change has occurred, if the change is judged by thejudgment to be a change arising from an operation satisfying thecondition.

With the above configuration, in the browsing of a frame page, when achange has occurred to another frame in the state in which the selectedframe is operable and the change has been caused by a user operation,the display is returned to the whole display screen while notifying theuser of the frame (segment) to which the change has occurred, by whichthe convenience for the user during the browsing of frame pages can beenhanced.

In order to achieve the above object, in accordance with another aspectof the present invention, there is provided a terminal devicecomprising: communication means for acquiring a page via a network; andcontrol means which is configured to execute the following sequence ofprocesses (1)-(3) when the acquired page is a frame page:

(1) displaying a whole display screen on which the whole of an acquiredframe page is shown and selection of a frame is possible;

(2) displaying an operation screen, on which a frame selected by a useris operable, when the frame is selected by the user on the whole displayscreen; and

(3) judging in a state in which the operation screen has been displayedwhether a change occurring to a frame in the page different from theselected frame is a change arising from an operation satisfying a firstcondition that is regarded to represent a user's explicit intention toview the different frame or not, and shifting display to a display of ascreen, corresponding to the whole display and notifying the user of theframe to which the change has occurred, if the change is judged by thejudgment to be a change arising from an operation satisfying the firstcondition.

With the above configuration, in the browsing of a frame page, when achange has occurred to another frame in the state in which the selectedframe is operable and the change has been caused by a user operation,the display is returned to the whole display screen while notifying theuser of the frame (segment) to which the change has occurred, by whichthe convenience for the user during the browsing of frame pages can beenhanced.

The control means may be configured to further execute the step of:

(4) judging in the state in which the operation screen has beendisplayed whether a change occurring to a frame in the page differentfrom the selected frame is a change arising from an operation satisfyinga second condition that is regarded not to represent a user's explicitintention to view the different frame or not, and controlling thedisplay so that the transition to the display corresponding to the wholedisplay is not made if the change is judged by the judgment to be achange arising from an operation satisfying the second condition.

The terminal device may further comprise an operation unit including adirectional key and a confirmation key. In this case, the user selectionof a frame on the whole display screen may be made by moving a focusposition by use of the directional key and operating the confirmationkey.

The operation unit may be configured to include no pointing device formaking the frame selection.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a computer program for displaying a frame page, which lets acomputer implement the following functions:

a function of judging in a state in which an operation screen foroperating a frame in the frame page has been displayed whether a changeoccurring to a frame in the page different from the currently displayedframe is a change arising from an operation satisfying a condition thatis regarded to represent a user's explicit intention to view thedifferent frame or not; and

a function of controlling display so that the display is shifted to ascreen on which the page is displayed in whole display if the change isjudged by the judgment to be a change arising from an operationsatisfying the condition.

With the above configuration, in the browsing of a frame page, thedisplay is controlled so that the whole display screen is displayed whena change has occurred to another frame in the state in which theselected frame is operable and the change has been caused by a useroperation, by which the convenience for the user during the browsing offrame pages can be enhanced.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a frame displaying method comprising the steps of: displaying awhole display screen on which the whole of an acquired frame page isshown and selection of a frame is possible; displaying an operationscreen, on which a frame selected by a user is operable, when the frameis selected by the user on the whole display screen; judging in a statein which the operation screen on which the selected frame is operablehas been displayed whether a user operation for a setting changerequesting a page renovation process has been performed or not; andcontrolling transition of the display screen based on at least one ofinformation regarding a display screen that has incorporated the settingchange and details of the setting change when the user operation hasbeen performed.

With the above configuration, transition of the display screen moreadvantageous to the user is realized in the transition of the framedisplay screen in the page renovation process, by which usability duringframe display is improved.

Whether the operation screen on which the selected frame is operableshould be shifted to a whole display screen, incorporating the settingchange and showing all the frames, or to an operation screen,incorporating the setting change regarding the selected frame andletting the selected frame be operable, may be controlled based on thedetails of the setting change.

Whether the operation screen on which the selected frame is operableshould be shifted to a whole display screen, incorporating the settingchange and showing all the frames, or to an operation screen,incorporating the setting change regarding the selected frame andletting the selected frame be operable, may be controlled based oninformation regarding a change in the display screen caused by theincorporation of the setting change.

The transition of the display screen may be controlled based on a frameselection operation by the user in a state in which the transition fromthe operation screen on which the selected frame is operable to thewhole display screen incorporating the setting change and showing allthe frames has been made based on the information regarding the changein the display screen caused by the incorporation of the setting change.

A process selected from at least two processes: a process reexecutinglayout only and a process requiring re-interpretation of content of theacquired frames, may be executed depending on the details of the settingchange for generating the display screen which has incorporated thesetting change.

Data regarding a scroll position or a focus position on the operationscreen of the selected frame may be stored when the transition from thestate in which the operation screen of the selected frame has beendisplayed to another display screen is made, and the stored data may beused later for restoration of the focus position or the scroll positionwhen the operation screen of the selected frame is displayed again.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a frame displaying method comprising the steps of: displaying awhole display screen on which the whole of an acquired frame page isshown and selection of a frame is possible; displaying an operationscreen, on which a frame selected by a user is operable, when the frameis selected by the user on the whole display screen; judging in a statein which the operation screen on which the selected frame is operablehas been displayed whether a user operation requesting a reload processhas been performed or not; and controlling transition of the displayscreen based on information regarding a display screen that hasincorporated the reload process when the user operation has beenperformed.

With the above configuration, transition of the display screen moreadvantageous to the user is realized in the transition of the framedisplay screen in the reload process, by which usability during framedisplay is improved.

Whether the operation screen on which the selected frame is operableshould be shifted to a whole display screen, incorporating the reloadprocess and showing all the frames, or to an operation screen,incorporating the reload process regarding the selected frame andletting the selected frame be operable, may be controlled based oninformation regarding a change in the display screen caused by executionof the reload process.

The transition of the display screen may be controlled based on a frameselection operation by the user in a state in which the transition fromthe operation screen on which the selected frame is operable to thewhole display screen incorporating the reload process and showing allthe frames has been made based on the information regarding the changein the display screen caused by the incorporation of the reload process.

Data regarding a scroll position or a focus position on the operationscreen of the selected frame may be stored when the transition from thestate in which the operation screen of the selected frame has beendisplayed to another display screen is made, and the stored data may beused later for restoration of the focus position or the scroll positionwhen the operation screen of the selected frame is displayed again.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a computer program for letting a computer implement thefollowing functions:

a function of displaying a whole display screen on which the whole of anacquired frame page is shown and selection of a frame is possible;

a function of displaying an operation screen, on which a frame selectedby a user is operable, when the frame is selected by the user on thewhole display screen;

a function of judging in a state in which the operation screen on whichthe selected frame is operable has been displayed whether a useroperation for a setting change requesting a page renovation process hasbeen performed or not; and

a function of controlling transition of the display screen based on atleast one of information regarding a display screen that hasincorporated the setting change and details of the setting change whenthe user operation has been performed.

With the above configuration, transition of the display screen moreadvantageous to the user is realized in the transition of the framedisplay screen in the page renovation process, by which usability duringframe display is improved.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a computer program for letting a computer implement thefollowing functions:

a function of displaying a whole display screen on which the whole of anacquired frame page is shown and selection of a frame is possible;

a function of displaying an operation screen, on which a frame selectedby a user is operable, when the frame is selected by the user on thewhole display screen;

a function of judging in a state in which the operation screen on whichthe selected frame is operable has been displayed whether a useroperation requesting a reload process has been performed or not; and

a function of controlling transition of the display screen based oninformation regarding a display screen that has incorporated the reloadprocess when the user operation has been performed.

With the above configuration, transition of the display screen moreadvantageous to the user is realized in the transition of the framedisplay screen in the reload process, by which usability during framedisplay is improved.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a terminal device comprising: communication means for acquiringa page via a network; and

control means which is configured to execute the following processes(1)-(4) when the acquired page is a frame page:

(1) displaying a whole display screen on which the whole of an acquiredframe page is shown and selection of a frame is possible;

(2) displaying an operation screen, on which a frame selected by a useris operable, when the frame is selected by the user on the whole displayscreen;

(3) judging in a state in which the operation screen on which theselected frame is operable has been displayed whether a user operationfor a setting change requesting a page renovation process has beenperformed or-not; and

(4) controlling transition of the display screen based on at least oneof information regarding a display screen that has incorporated thesetting change and details of the setting change when the user operationhas been performed.

With the above configuration, transition of the display screen moreadvantageous to the user is realized in the transition of the framedisplay screen in the page renovation process, by which usability duringframe display is improved.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a terminal device comprising: communication means for acquiringa page via a network; and

control means which is configured to execute the following processes(1)-(4) when the acquired page is a frame page:

(1) displaying a whole display screen on which the whole of an acquiredframe page is shown and selection of a frame is possible;

(2) displaying an operation screen, on which a frame selected by a useris operable, when the frame is selected by the user on the whole displayscreen;

(3) judging in a state in which the operation screen on which theselected frame is operable has been displayed whether a user operationrequesting a reload process has been performed or not; and

(4) controlling transition of the display screen based on informationregarding a display screen that has incorporated the reload process whenthe user operation has been performed.

With the above configuration, transition of the display screen moreadvantageous to the user is realized in the transition of the framedisplay screen in the reload process, by which usability during framedisplay is improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an external view of a cellular phone having a frame displayfunction in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of thecellular phone of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing functions of a browseroperating under the control of a CPU of the cellular phone.

FIG. 4 shows transitions of display when the display returns to wholedisplay due to fulfillment of a prescribed condition.

FIG. 5 shows transitions of display when the display is switched to anew page due to designation of a URL on a zoom display screen of aselected frame.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a series of frame displayoperations when the switching to the whole display is canceled due tofulfillment of a prescribed condition.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the browser.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the details of an operation in aselection mode shown in the flow chart of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of display of framesbeing loaded. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a modificationregarding frame selection.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of frame display inregard to restoration of a focus position.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a modification regarding thedisplay of the selected frame.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a still another example of thedisplay of the selected frame (different from FIG. 12).

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of display in regardto frame selection achieved by a frame enlarging operation.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing the frame selection operation shown inFIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an example of display in regardto frame selection achieved by an operation for expanding the outline ofa frame.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example in which the frameselection is implemented by associating frames with numeric keys.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing an example of display in whichthe display is returned to the whole display by use of a menu screen onthe zoom display screen.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing an example of display in which aframe-incompatible browser notifies the user that a change satisfying aprescribed condition has occurred to another frame during operation on aframe by the user.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing a renovation process in accordance withthe embodiment.

FIGS. 21(a)-21(e) are schematic diagrams showing transitions of theframe display screen caused by the renovation process.

FIGS. 22(a) and 22(b) are schematic diagrams showing an example in whichtransition from the whole display state of FIG. 21(d) to the zoomdisplay of the original child frame is not made.

FIGS. 23(a)-23(e) are schematic diagrams showing a second example oftransitions of the frame display screen caused by the renovationprocess.

FIGS. 24(a)-24(e) are schematic diagrams showing a third example oftransitions of the frame display screen caused by the renovationprocess.

FIGS. 25(a)-25(d) are schematic diagrams showing a fourth example oftransitions of the frame display screen caused by the renovationprocess.

FIG. 26 is a flow chart showing a reload process in accordance with theembodiment.

FIGS. 27(a)-27(e) are schematic diagrams showing transitions of theframe display screen caused by the reload process.

FIGS. 28(a) and 28(b) are schematic diagrams showing an example in whichtransition from the whole display state of FIG. 27(d) to the zoomdisplay of the original child frame is not made.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First Embodiment

In the following, a first embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed. FIG. 1 is an external view of a cellular phone 10 having aframe display function in accordance with the first embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardwareconfiguration of the cellular phone 10. As shown in the external view ofFIG. 1, an operating surface of the casing of the cellular phone 10 isprovided with a liquid crystal display 111 and an operation unit. Theoperation unit includes dialing buttons 114, a directional key 115, anon-hook button 121 and an off-hook button 122. An antenna 105 andopenings for a speaker 119 are formed at the top of the operatingsurface, while openings for a microphone 118 are formed at the bottom ofthe operating surface. While a cellular phone is employed in thisembodiment as an example of a terminal device for making the framedisplay, the frame display function which will be described below can beimplemented not only on cellular phones but also on various types ofterminal devices.

The block diagram of FIG. 2 will be explained below. The cellular phone10 includes a CPU 100 for controlling the whole of the cellular phone10. The CPU 100 is connected with a ROM 101, a RAM 102, a flash memory103, a wireless communication control unit 104, the liquid crystaldisplay 111, an input interface unit 113 and an audio control unit 117.The antenna 105 is connected to the wireless communication control unit104. Various keys of the operation unit are connected to the inputinterface unit 113. The microphone 118 and the speaker 119 are connectedto the audio control unit 117.

The ROM 101 is a nonvolatile read-only memory storing various programsto be executed by the CPU 100 and fixed data. The RAM 102 is arewritable memory which provides the CPU 100 with work areas andtemporary data storage areas. The flash memory 103 is a nonvolatilerewritable memory storing additional application programs and variousdata.

The wireless communication control unit 104 has a function of executingwireless voice/data communication (transmission and reception) with basestations via the antenna 105.

The liquid crystal display 111 forms a display unit having a displayscreen. The input interface unit 113 has a function of receiving inputoperations of the user through the dialing buttons 114 and thedirectional key 115 of the operation unit. The audio control unit 117 isconnected with the microphone 118 and the speaker 119. The audio controlunit 117 controls the input and output of sound via the microphone 118and the speaker 119.

In the cellular phone 10 configured as above, a browser stored in theROM 101 is activated when a prescribed operation is performed by theuser through the operation unit. With the activation of the browser, thecellular phone 10 is connected to a communication network via thewireless communication control unit 104 and the browsing of Web pagesbecomes possible. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing functionsof the browser operating under the control of the CPU 100. The framedisplay operation of the cellular phone 10 will be explained belowreferring to the functional block diagram of FIG. 3.

First, the basic operation of the browser will be explained. When a URL(Uniform Resource Locator) is specified by the user by key entry of theURL or a selection of an anchor on the page being displayed (F00), thebrowser acquires the specified content described in a markup languagevia the communication network (F01) and executes a valid contentjudgment process (e.g. judging whether the acquired content is valid ornot) as a preparation (F02). In the valid content judgment process,content caused by a timeout or interruption is judged to be invalid, forexample.

A parser (F03) interprets the logical structure of the acquired contentand thereby generates a document tree in regard to the structure of thecontent. Incidentally, the document tree does not include information onexpressions of the document. Subsequently, a page maker (F04) generatesa layout tree, including information on expressive forms (block, inline,table, list, item, etc.) specified by tags, based on the document tree.The layout tree represents the order of arrangement of blocks, inlines,tables, etc. in the content. Incidentally, the layout tree does notinclude detailed information on the layout, such as the position, thewidth and the height of each of the elements on the screen, the positionof a line feed in a character string, etc.

A formatter (F05) sets the layout based on the layout tree and by use ofinformation on the actual display screen such as the width of thedisplay screen. Specifically, the formatter (F05) successively placesthe elements of the layout tree on the actual display screen anddetermines the line feed positions of character strings and theposition, width and height of each element on the screen. By the aboveprocess by the parser, the page maker and the formatter, the content isdisplayed on the display screen of the cellular phone 10.

Next, the frame display which is made by the browser will be explained.Along with the analysis by the page maker (F04), a judgment is made onthe existence of a frameset (F10). When a frameset exists, a process forsegmenting the screen is executed according to the frameset (F11) andsplit-screen display is made (F12, F13). Incidentally, the acquisitionof the content is started in F11 for each segment of the screen (arrowF11 a).

In F14, a judgment process regarding frames (segments) allowing zoomdisplay is made based on the results of the judgment in F10 and thevalid content judgment in F02. Specifically, at the point when theacquired content is judged to be valid content and the screen can not beframe-segmented further, the screen is set in a state allowing selectionof a frame. In this state, the frame page is displayed on the displayscreen in whole display.

In the whole display state, the user moves the focus by operating thedirectional key 115, for example, and confirms the selection byoperating a confirmation key (unshown in FIGS. 1 and 2). The focusedframe is displayed with a thick outline so as to discriminate it fromother frames.

When the frame selection is made by the user (F20), a process for thezoom display of the selected frame is executed (F21). Specifically, anadjustment for full-screen display of the selected segment is made in aframeset segmentation ratio adjustment process (F16) and the display ofthe selected segment on the display screen is made (F12, F13). On theother hand, when the user specifies cancellation of the frame zoomdisplay (F22), a process for the cancellation of the zoom display isexecuted (F23). Specifically, a process for displaying the frameset inthe original segmentation ratios is executed in the framesetsegmentation ratio adjustment process (F16) and the display of theframeset on the display screen is made (F12, F13).

The browser is configured to make a judgment on whether or not to stopthe zoom display of the selected frame and return to the whole display(F24) when the content acquisition (F01) is executed according to a useroperation or independently of user operations in the state in which theselected frame has been displayed in the zoom display to be operable.When the content acquisition (F01) is executed according to a useroperation that is satisfying a prescribed condition and judged torepresent an explicit intention of the user to view another frame, aprocess for temporarily returning from the zoom display to the wholedisplay is executed (arrow A1).

Along with the above process, a process for clearly indicating the framewith the rewritten content (i.e. updated frame) on the whole displayscreen is executed (arrow A2). In the zoom display cancellation judgmentprocess (F24), information on the user operation (F00) and the validcontent judgment (F02) is used. After temporarily returning to the wholedisplay, the display shifts to the zoom display of the updated frameautomatically or according to a selection by the user. The details ofthe frame display will be explained below.

With the above configuration, the following functions are achieved inthe frame display.

(1) The user can move the focus in the whole display state and turn adesired frame into an active state (i.e. a state in which the frame isdisplayed in the zoom display to be operable).

(2) In the zoom display state, when a change occurs to another frame andthe change is judged to have been caused by an operation by the userexplicitly intending to view another frame, the whole display screen isdisplayed temporarily. In this whole display, the user is notified ofthe updated frame (segment).

(3) Thereafter (e.g. after making the whole display for a prescribedtime period), the display shifts to the display of the updated frame(i.e. the frame that the user intends to view) automatically, forexample.

(4) Even when a change occurs to another frame during the zoom displayof the selected frame by the above function (1), no frame transition ismade when the change has occurred independently of the user's intention,that is, when the user does not intend the transition to the frame.

Examples of conditions for returning to the whole display (i.e.conditions for judging that the user operation represents an explicitintention to view another frame) employed in the zoom display state ofthe selected frame will be described below.

(A-1) Content of a frame has changed due to selection of a hyperlinkanchor, transmission of a form, selection of an image map, etc. causedby a user operation, and the content is valid (i.e. not caused by atimeout or interruption).

(A-2) Content of a frame in the frameset has changed due to a scriptactivated by a user operation and the content is valid (i.e. not causedby a timeout or interruption). This condition can include, for example,a case where an “onClick” event handler has been specified in an anchoror a JavaScript scheme has been specified as a URL (e.g. <ahref=“javascript: . . . ”>) and content of a frame is changed (e.g.location, href=“. . . ”) in a script activated and executed in thespecified event handler or scheme. Incidentally, the display may bereturned to the whole display not only when content in a frame changesaccording to above judgment condition (A-1) or (A-2) but also when thestructure of the frameset changes.

Meanwhile, even when a change occurs to another frame during the zoomdisplay of the selected frame, the change is judged to be irrelevant tothe user's intention when one of the following conditions is satisfied.

(B-1) Content other than that of the currently zoom displayed frame, itsparent frame or its ancestor frame is changed due to a markup languageor a communication protocol and not through a user operation, and thecontent is valid (i.e. not caused by a timeout or interruption). Thiscondition can include, for example, a case where the content is changedafter a prescribed time period due to designation of <metahttp-equiv=“refresh”> in HTML or a “Refresh:” header in HTTP (HypertextTransfer Protocol), for example.

(B-2) Content other than that of the currently zoom displayed frame, itsparent frame or its ancestor frame is changed due to the operation of ascript and not through a user operation and the content is valid (i.e.not caused by a timeout or interruption). This condition can include,for example, a case where content in a frame is changed in an eventhandler specified by “onLoad” and “onUnload” of JavaScript or in anintra-function process specified by the “setTimerout” method and the“setlnterval” method.

Besides the above judgments based on the above conditions, it ispossible to perform one of the following operations when a change isbeing caused to the currently zoom displayed frame, its parent frame andits ancestor frame and the change is judged to satisfy none of the firstconditions for regarding the change that is according to the user'sintention.

(a) Automatically stop the content acquisition and frame change/updatewithout returning to the whole display.

(b) Continue the content acquisition and frame change/update and returnto the whole display.

(c) Display a dialog indicating that a change is being caused and promptthe user to select whether to continue the content acquisition and framechange/update and return to the whole display or to stop the contentacquisition and frame change/update without returning to the wholedisplay.

(d) Use data preset by the user regarding the operation to be performedwhen such a change is being caused.

Next, several concrete examples of the frame display implemented by theabove configuration will be explained referring to figures. In thefollowing explanation, a case where the acquired page includes threeframes A, B and C (see FIG. 4(a)) will be described as an example.

FIG. 4 shows a series of transitions of the frame display when anoperation satisfying the above condition (A-1) or (A-2) is performed bythe user during the zoom display of the selected frame. First, as shownin FIG. 4(a), all the frames included in the acquired page are displayedon the display screen in the whole display. Incidentally, while thestate inside each frame is represented simply by a symbol A, B or C inFIG. 4 and subsequent similar figures for simplicity of explanation,content is loaded and displayed in each frame A, B, C in the actualstate. When the frame selection becomes possible, the user can move thefocus as shown in FIG. 4(b) by operating the directional key. Thefocused frame is indicated clearly by surrounding the focused frame witha thick outline or graying out non-focused frames, for example. In theexample of FIG. 4(b), the frame B is assumed to be selected.

FIG. 4(c) shows a state in which the selected frame B has been displayedon the display screen in the zoom display as an active frame. In thisstate, when an operation satisfying the above judgment condition (A-1)or (A-2) (i.e. an operation that can be judged to represent the user'sexplicit intention to view another frame) is performed by the user, thedisplay temporarily shifts to a whole display of FIG. 4(d). It isassumed here that a change has occurred to the frame C due to a useroperation in the frame B. Such an operation is caused, for example, whenthe frame C is specified as a target (target attribute) in an anchorselected in the frame B. In the whole display screen of FIG. 4(d), theframe C to which a change has occurred is indicated clearly with a thickoutline. Incidentally, the method of clearly indicating the changedframe is not restricted to the thick outline; it is possible to gray outframes other than the changed frame, for example.

After the whole display of FIG. 4(d) is made for a prescribed timeperiod, the display automatically shifts to a zoom display of the frameC (FIG. 4(e)). Incidentally, while the switching from the whole displayof FIG. 4(d) to the zoom display of FIG. 4(e) may be performedautomatically, it is also possible to display a dialog prompting theuser to select whether to switch the display or not.

The reproducibility of the whole display screen of FIG. 4(d) regardingthe content of each frame may be less than that of the whole displayscreen of FIG. 4(a) as long as the user can adequately recognize thelayout of the whole page. For example, the whole display of FIG. 4(d)may be made by indicating the layout of the frames while expressing thecontent of each frame briefly with characters.

FIG. 5 shows an operation when the display is switched to a new page dueto designation of a URL during the zoom display of the selected frame.Assuming that the frame B is selected by the user as shown in FIG. 5(b)during the whole display of FIG. 5(a), the content of the frame B isdisplayed in the zoom display to be operable as shown in FIG. 5(c). Whena link to a new page is selected on the zoom display screen, the newpage is loaded and displayed (FIG. 5(d)).

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram explaining a series of frame displayoperations when the above judgment condition (B-1) or (B-2) is satisfiedduring the zoom display of the selected frame and thereby the switchingto the whole display is canceled. Assuming that the frame B is selectedby the user as shown in FIG. 6(b) during the whole display of FIG. 6(a),the content of the frame B is displayed in the zoom display to beoperable as shown in FIG. 6(c). In this state, when a change occurs tothe frame A or C independently of the user operation, that is, when achange in a frame satisfying the above judgment condition (B-1) or (B-2)occurs, the transitions shown in FIGS. 4(c) and 4(d) are not made, thatis, the display remains in the zoom display of the frame B.

The above is the basic operation of the frame display in accordance withthis embodiment. The basic frame display operations shown in FIGS. 4-6can be achieved by the hardware configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 andthe functional configuration shown in FIG. 3. Next, steps forimplementing the basic operations shown in FIGS. 4-6 will be expressedas a flow chart. FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of thebrowser. The operation of FIG. 7 is performed under the control of theCPU 100.

When a URL is specified by the user by entering the URL, selecting ananchor, etc. (step S1), the acquisition of content of the specified URLis started (step S2). Subsequently, whether the acquired content isvalid data or not is judged. Data caused by a timeout or interruption isjudged to be invalid. When the acquired content is invalid (step S3:NO), the process returns to the step S1.

When the acquired content is judged to be valid (step S3: YES), whetherthe acquired content is a frame page or not is judged (step S4). Whenthe acquired content is not a frame page (S4: NO), the process advancesto step S5 and a process for normally displaying the content on thedisplay screen of the cellular phone 10 is executed. When the acquiredcontent is judged to be a frame page (S4: YES), the process advances tostep S6.

In the step S6, the frame display is started. In step S7, the framesegmentation is executed according to designation in the frameset. Instep S8, data in each frame is acquired. In step S9, whether the contentof each frame is valid or not is judged. This judgment is made similarlyto the judgment of the step S3. When the content in each frame is valid(S9: YES), whether each frame further includes a frameset or not isjudged (step S110).

When a frame further includes a frameset (step S10: YES), the processreturns to the frame segmentation process of the step S7. On the otherhand, when each frame does not further include a frameset (step S10:NO), the process advances to step S11 and each frame is set in aselectable state. In the step S9, when the content in a frame is judgedto be invalid (S9: NO), the frame is set in a non-selectable state. Eachframe in the selectable state is controlled so that it can be focused,while each frame in the non-selectable state is controlled so that itcan not be focused. It is also possible to display the frames in thenon-selectable state as blank spaces.

After the step S11, the process advances to a selection mode process ofstep S13. In the selection mode, the page is displayed in the wholedisplay with one or more frames in the selectable state. FIG. 8 is aflow chart showing the operation in the selection mode. The screendisplay state in the selection mode corresponds to that of FIG. 4(b) (inwhich the focus can be moved) in the example of FIG. 4. When the userselects a desired frame (step S21), the selected frame is displayed inthe zoom display to be operable (i.e. zoom mode) (step S22).

The operation in the zoom mode corresponds to the zoom display state ofFIG. 4(c) in the example of FIG. 4.

In the next step S23, operation on the content by the user is started.In step S24, whether the user has specified a return to the selection.mode or not is judged. When a return to the selection mode has beenspecified by a user operation (S24: YES), the process returns to thestep S21. When a return to the selection mode has not been specified bythe user (S24: NO), the process advances to step S25.

In the step S25, whether a change in content satisfying the judgmentcondition (B-1) or (B-2) has occurred or not is judged, that is, whethera change (update) occurring to another frame during the zoom display ofthe selected frame is a change irrelevant to the user's intention or notis judged. When a content change satisfying the judgment condition (B-1)or (B-2) is judged to have occurred (S25: YES), the transition to thewhole display is not made (the example of FIG. 6), that is, the processjust returns to the content operation process of the step S23.

On the other hand, when no content change satisfying the judgmentcondition (B-1) or (B-2) is judged to have occurred (S25: NO), theprocess advances to step S26. In the step S26, whether either of thefollowing events has occurred to another frame (a frame other than theselected frame in the zoom display) or not is judged:

(G-1) Another frame has been set in the selectable state after loading.(G-2) Another frame loaded has thereafter been segmented into aframeset.

Also when either of the above events has occurred, the transition fromthe current zoom display screen is not made. In other words, the processjust returns to the content operation process of the step S23 wheneither of the above events has occurred (S26: YES).

When neither of the events (G-1) and (G-2) is judged to have occurred(S26: NO), the process advances to step S27. In the step S27, whether acontent change satisfying the above judgment condition (A-1) or (A-2)has occurred or not is judged, that is, whether a frame change that isjudged to represent the user's explicit intention to view another framehas 30 been caused by a user operation in the zoom display state or notis judged. When no content change satisfying the judgment condition(A-1) or (A-2) has occurred (S27: NO), the process returns to the stepS23.

On the other hand, when a content change satisfying the judgmentcondition (A-1) or (A-2) has occurred (S27: YES), the process advancesto step S28. In the step S28, the transition from the selection modedisplay to the whole display is made and the frame to which a change hasoccurred is indicated clearly. The clear indication of the changedsegment can be given in various formats, such as a thick outline(similarly to the focused frame), a blinking frame and a messagedisplayed on the screen.

In the next step S29, whether the changed frame is a single frame(including no frameset) and a prescribed time period has passed or notis judged. When the condition of the step S29 is satisfied (S29: YES),the process returns to the step S22 and the changed frame is displayedin the zoom display to be operable. This operation corresponds to theautomatic transition from the temporary whole display state of FIG. 4(d)to the zoom display of the frame C′ in the example of FIG. 4. On theother hand, when the condition of the step S29 is not satisfied (S29:NO), the process returns to the step S21. By the above processes ofFIGS. 7 and 8, the basic frame display operations shown in FIGS. 4-6 areimplemented.

With the basic frame display operations shown in FIGS. 4-6, in the statein which the selected frame is operable in the browsing of a frame page,when a change has occurred to another frame or a parent frame and thechange has been caused by a user operation, the display is returned tothe whole display screen (thumbnail display screen) and the user isnotified of the changed segment. On the other hand, a change occurringto a segment not intended by the user is ignored and the frame switchingis not performed. Therefore, switching of display correctlyincorporating the user's intention can be realized during the browsingof frame pages, by which the convenience for the user can be enhanced.

Next, several modifications of the basic frame display operations ofthis embodiment which have been shown in FIGS. 4-6 will be explained.Also in the modifications described below, the acquired page is assumedto include three frames A, B and C and the part of each frame actuallydisplaying content is simply represented by a symbol A, B or C similarlyto the examples of FIGS. 4-6.

FIG. 9 shows an example of display of frames being loaded. In thismodification, after the acquisition of a page is started, each framebefore being completely loaded is indicated with a display explicitlyshowing the fact (display of characters “LOADING” in FIG. 9). As theloading of a frame is completed, the display for the frame shifts to adisplay explicitly showing the fact (display of characters “COMPLETED”in FIG. 9(b)) and the frame is set in the selectable state. FIG. 9(b)shows a state in which the loading of the frame A has been completed andthe frame A is selectable. When the user selects the frame A byoperating the confirmation key, the frame A is displayed in the zoomdisplay to be operable as shown in FIG. 9(c).

In short, in the frame display example of FIG. 9, frames are turned intothe selectable state successively from a frame for which the loading iscompleted. Incidentally, it is also possible to turn a frame into theselectable state at the point when it has become clear that the framewill not be segmented further (i.e. the frame does not further include aframeset) even when the content in the frame has not be loadedcompletely. By the frame display method of FIG. 9, the frame selectioncan be made quickly.

FIG. 10 shows a modification regarding the frame selection. In the wholedisplay of frames shown in FIG. 10(a), a button (81, 82, 83) to be usedfor the frame selection is displayed at the upper left cornet of eachframe. Thus, the user can designate the open/close of each frame by thebutton operation. In the state of FIG. 9(b) in which each frame isselectable, the user can make a selection (open designation) of adesired frame by performing a button operation. For example, in order toselect the frame B, the user designates the button 82 of the frame B byuse of a stylus. Similarly to the transition from FIG. 4(c) to FIG.4(d), there can be a transition from the zoom display of FIG. 10(c) tothe whole display of FIG. 10(d) caused by a user operation. Meanwhile,the user can return from the state of FIG. 10(c) to the whole displayscreen of FIG. 10(d) by making a designation (close designation) of thebutton 82 on the zoom display screen of FIG. 10(c). By the frameselection method of FIG. 10, the user can easily designate theopen/close of each frame by use of a stylus, etc. and that is convenientfor the user.

FIG. 11 shows an example of frame display in regard to restoration ofthe focus position. It is assumed that the display has been shifted fromthe whole display state of FIG. 11(a) to the selection mode screen ofFIG. 11(b) and thereafter the frame A has been displayed in the zoomdisplay to be operable as shown in FIG. 11(c) due to the selection ofthe frame A by the user. In the state of FIG. 11(c), a portion 90 in thecontent of the frame A has been focused by a user operation. It isassumed that the frame display has shifted as shown in FIGS. 11(c),11(d) and 11(e) similarly to the transitions of FIGS. 4(c), 4(d) and4(e).

Further, the display has returned from the state of FIG. 11(c) to thewhole display of FIG. 11(f) and thereafter returned to the whole displayof the frame A as shown in FIG. 11(g). In this case, the scroll positionand/or the focus position in the display state of FIG. 11(c) have/hasbeen memorized, and the focus is restored to the position in FIG. 11(c)when the display returns to FIG. 11(g). In other words, the scrollposition and/or the focus position in the zoom display state are/ismemorized and the focus position is restored to the original positionwhen the display returns to the zoom display of the same frame.Incidentally, it is also possible to make the restoration of the focusposition in the returning to the zoom display of FIG. 11(g) on thecondition that the content of the frame A has not changed since thestate of FIG. 11(c). In this case, when the condition is not satisfied,the display in the state of FIG. 11(f) is returned to the top part ofthe frame A. By the frame display method of FIG. 11, the focus positionin the selected screen is restored to the original position, by whichthe convenience for the user during the browsing of frame pages isenhanced.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a modification regarding thedisplay of the selected frame. Similarly to FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), FIG.12(a) shows the whole display of frames and FIG. 12(b) shows a state inwhich the frame selection has become possible. FIG. 12(c) shows adisplay screen on which the frame A selected by the user on theselection mode screen of FIG. 12(b) has become operable. The screen ofFIG. 12(c) corresponds to the zoom display screen of the selected framewhich has been shown in FIG. 4(c). While the selected frame is enlargedthroughout the whole display screen to be operable in the example ofFIG. 4(c), the selected frame in the example of FIG. 12(c) is notenlarged to occupy the whole screen even though the enlargement of theselected frame is made. Specifically, on the display screen of FIG.12(c), items of content of the frames are arranged vertically so thatthe content of the frame B is also visible under the content of theframe A on the display screen. In the state of FIG. 12(c), only thecontent of the selected frame A is operable. By the frame display methodof FIG. 12, all the child frames are displayed continuously as a page onthe zoom display screen, by which the user is allowed to view andoperate content other than that of the selected frame.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a still another example of thedisplay of the selected frame, in which FIG. 13(a) shows a display inwhich the frame selection is possible and FIG. 13(b) shows a displayscreen to be used for operating the selected frame A. When a frameselection is made on the selection mode screen of FIG. 13(a), all thechild frames included in the page are turned into inline frames(represented by <iframe> tags) and displayed on the screen as shown inFIG. 13(b). The frames are arranged vertically as a page as shown inFIG. 13(b), in which a plurality of frames may be visible at the sametime on one screen.

The display and user operation in the state of FIG. 13(b) may beperformed according to the following rules:

(r-1) Operations such as anchor selection are possible in a child framethat has been turned into an iframe.

(r-2) Transition from an iframe to another iframe is possible in ahierarchical stage that is one stage higher.

(r-3) A plurality of child frames that have been turned into iframes maybe displayed on the display screen.

(r-4) The display of a plurality of child frames that have been turnedinto iframes on the display screen is not requisite (In this case, eachchild frame becomes visible by scrolling.). By the frame display methodof FIG. 13, all the child frames are displayed on the zoom displayscreen, by which the user is allowed to view and operate frames otherthan the selected frame. Incidentally, the process of restructuring theframes (child frames) of the frame page into iframes can be executed bythe parser (F03) shown in FIG. 3.

Next, another example regarding the frame selection will be explainedreferring to FIG. 14. In the example of frame selection which has beenshown in FIG. 4(b), the user moves the focus to a desired frame byoperating the directional key 115 and thereafter makes the frameselection by operating the confirmation key. In the example of FIG. 14,the user successively enlarges a frame and the frame is regarded to havebeen selected by the user when the size (e.g. the area) of the frameexceeds a prescribed size.

FIG. 14(a) shows the whole display screen. In this state, when the userperforms an operation for enlarging a frame, a loupe icon 93 isdisplayed in the frame designated by the user to be enlarged as shown inFIG. 14(b). In this example, the frame C has been designated to beenlarged. With further enlarging operations by the user, the frame C isenlarged successively and the area of the frame C on the display screensuccessively gets larger as shown in FIGS. 14(c) and 14(d).

When the area of the frame C exceeds a prescribed area, the frame C isregarded to have been selected and the frame C is displayed in the zoomdisplay to be operable as shown in FIG. 14(e). Since FIG. 14 shows anexample of designation of enlargement, images, texts, etc. inside theframe are evenly enlarged according to the scaling factor designated bythe user. Incidentally, the screen of FIG. 14(e) may be returned to adisplay screen prohibiting the operations such as anchor selection (i.e.a screen corresponding to the whole display screen) when the userdesignates size reduction of the frame on the screen of FIG. 14(e). Bythe frame selection method of FIG. 14, the frame selection is made inconjunction with a user operation for enlarging a display area, by whichthe convenience for the user in the frame selection is enhanced.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing the frame selection operation which hasbeen shown in FIG. 14. The frame selection operation shown in FIG. 14 isimplemented by the CPU 100 of the cellular phone 10 by performing theoperation shown in FIG. 15. First, a whole display process (thumbnaildisplay process) is executed for the acquired page (step S41). In thenext step S42, whether a selection of zoom display has been made by auser operation or not is judged. When the selection of zoom display hasbeen made (S42: YES), the process advances to step S43. When theselection of zoom display has not been made (S42: NO), the process isended.

In the step S43, whether an input for changing the area of the selectedframe (e.g. the designation of enlargement) has been made or not isjudged. When an input for changing the frame area has been made (S43:YES), a process for changing the frame area is executed (S44). When noinput for changing the frame area has been made (S43: NO), the processis ended.

In the next step S45, whether the size (e.g. the area) of the changedarea exceeds a prescribed size or not is judged. When the size of thechanged area exceeds the prescribed size (S45: YES), the frame isregarded to have been selected and the zoom display is made (S46). Whenthe size of the changed area does not exceed the prescribed size (S45:NO), the process is ended. Incidentally, the flow chart of the frameselection process (FIG. 16) is described here in order to show theoverall operation of the frame selection. Actually, the process may beactivated periodically, or activated in response to an input by theuser.

Next, another example regarding the frame selection will be explainedreferring to FIG. 16. In this example, the user successively enlargesthe display area of a frame (expands a frame) and when the size (e.g.the area) of the display area exceeds a prescribed size, the frame isregarded to have been selected.

FIG. 16(a) shows the whole display screen. FIG. 16(b) shows a state inwhich the user has made an input for changing the display area of theframe C. As the user designates enlargement of the display area, thedisplay area of the frame C is enlarged successively and the area of theframe C on the display screen successively gets larger as shown in FIGS.16(c) and 16(d).

In the state of FIG. 16(d), the area of the frame C exceeds a prescribedarea, by which the frame C is regarded to have been selected and thedisplay shifts to a screen of FIG. 16(e) in which the frame C isdisplayed in the zoom display to be operable. Since FIG. 16 shows a casewhere the area of a frame is enlarged, whether an image in the frame isenlarged according to the enlargement of the outline of the frame or notcan vary depending on the content of the frame.

The screen of FIG. 16(e) may be returned to a display screen prohibitingthe operations such as anchor selection (i.e. a screen corresponding tothe whole display screen) when the user makes size reduction of thedisplay area on the screen of FIG. 16(e). It is desirable that the useroperation in FIG. 16 for changing a display area be performed by use ofa pointing device. when the device operated by the user has the pointingdevice. By the frame selection method of FIG. 16, the frame selection ismade in conjunction with a user operation for enlarging a display area,by which the convenience for the user in the frame selection isenhanced.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing a still another example regardingthe frame selection. FIG. 17(a) shows the whole display state. It isassumed that “1”, “2” and “3” of the numeric keys (dialing buttons 114)have been assigned to the frame A, B and C, respectively. FIG. 17(b)shows the selection mode screen. In this state, the user can select aframe by operating a numeric key. For example, when the numeric key “I”is operated by the user, the frame A is regarded to have been selected.In this case, the frame A is displayed in the zoom display to beoperable as shown in FIG. 17(c).

It is also possible to assign a function of returning to the wholedisplay to numeric keys other than “1”, “2” or “3”. In this case, thedisplay is returned to the whole display screen when a numeric key otherthan “1”, “2” or “3” is pressed in the zoom display state of FIG. 17(c).By the frame selection example of FIG. 17, the user can make a frameselection only by designating a numeric key.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing a still another example regardingthe frame selection, in which FIG. 18(a) shows the whole display stateand FIG. 18(b) shows the selection mode screen. When the frame B isselected in the state of FIG. 18(b), the frame B is displayed in thezoom display to be operable and menu items “Back”, “Enter” and “Func”are displayed at the bottom of the display screen as shown in FIG.18(c). When the user selects the menu item “Func”, a menu screen 51 isdisplayed and the user is allowed to select a desired operation. Themenu screen 51 may be displayed in the form of a pop-up menu, forexample. The menu includes a menu item “Thumbnail”. When the userselects the menu item “Thumbnail”, the display is switched to the wholedisplay screen (FIG. 18(d)). By the example of FIG. 18, the user isallowed to designate the transition from the zoom display screen to thewhole display screen.

In the above embodiment, the method of notifying the user of a changedsegment on the whole display screen (thumbnail display screen) like thescreen of FIG. 4(d) is not restricted to the focusing of the changedsegment (indicating the frame with a thick outline) and the blinking ofthe frame; various methods, such as displaying a dialog or message, canbe employed.

While the changed frame is indicated clearly on the whole display screen(FIG. 4(d)) in the case where the condition (A-1) or (A-2) is satisfiedand the display is shifted to the whole display screen as shown in theexample of FIG. 4, an embodiment not giving the clear indication of thechanged frame on the whole display screen of FIG. 4(d) is also possible.

Even in this case, the user can recognize that there will be atransition to another frame thanks to the whole display screen which isdisplayed temporarily, by which the convenience for the user during pagebrowsing can be enhanced.

The judgment and notification described above may be made also in thebrowsing of frame pages on a browser incompatible with the framedisplay. For example, when a browser not supporting the frame display isused (or when a browser has been set in a state not supporting the framedisplay and the frame segmentation is not executed by the browser) and achange satisfying the above condition (A-1) or (A-2) has occurred toanother frame during the display of content corresponding to the frame Aas shown in FIG. 19(a), it is possible to notify the user of the fact byuse of a dialog box 55, message, etc. as shown in FIG. 19(b).

The description of the above embodiment has been given taking a cellularphone as an example of a device that makes the frame display. Sincecellular phones have stricter restrictions on the size of the displayscreen, the types of operation keys, etc. compared to PCs, theenhancement of user convenience can be achieved remarkably by the framedisplay described in the above embodiment. The frame display methoddescribed above can be implemented not only on cellular phones but alsoon various terminal devices such as PDAs (personal digital assistants).Also in such cases, the enhancement of user convenience during thebrowsing of frame pages can be achieved.

While frame display in the browsing of pages on the Internet has beendescribed as an example of frame display in the above embodiment, thepresent invention is applicable not only to the page browsing on theInternet but also to information browsing on various types of networks.

The present invention is applicable to the browsing of content that isconfigured like a frameset, that is, the browsing of a page that isconfigured so that a screen can be segmented into a plurality ofsegments and different items of content can be included in the segments.

When a frame in a frame page further includes inline frames, the framestructure includes two hierarchical stages. Further, when an inlineframe included in a frame in a frame page further includes a pluralityof frames, the frame structure includes three hierarchical stages. Evenin such cases, it is possible to implement a configuration in which achange that is judged to be occurring to a certain frame, an inlineframe in a certain frame, or somewhere in a frame in an inline frame ina certain frame is reported to the user or ignored by use of thejudgment conditions (A-1), (A-2), (B-1), (B-2), etc. similarly to theabove embodiment. Incidentally, in the frame selection in such a casewhere the frame structure includes a plurality of stages, frames andinline frames in multiple stages and frames in stages thereunder may beregarded as in the same stage and collectively set in the selectablestate.

<Second Embodiment>

In the following a second embodiment in accordance with the presentinvention will be described. The second embodiment corresponds to amodification of the basic frame display operations in the firstembodiment which have been explained referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. Aframe display function in accordance with the second embodiment isimplemented by a hardware configuration equivalent to that of thecellular phone 10 which has been shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and a functionalconfiguration equivalent to basic components in the functional blocks ofthe browser (i.e. the basic process flow made up of the acquisition ofcontent such as a markup document (F01), the valid content judgment(F02), the parser (F03), the page maker (F04) and the formatter (F05))which have been shown in FIG. 3. Therefore, those figures and componentswhich have been used in the explanation of the first embodiment will bereferred to also in the explanation of the second embodiment.

In the frame display in accordance with the second embodiment, when arenovation process or a reload process is requested by a user operationafter the transition from the state in which a markup language documentincluding frames has been acquired and a screen indicating all theframes has been displayed (e.g. the state of FIG. 4(a)) to the state inwhich a frame selected by the user has been enlarged to be operable(e.g. the state of FIG. 4(c)), the renovation process or reload processis executed and the transition of frame screen display is made based onconditions.

The reload process corresponds to a process of reacquiring content(markup language document, etc.) from the network and restructuring thescreen display. Thus, in the reload process, the sequence of processesmade up of the content acquisition (F01), valid content judgment (F02),parser (F03), page maker (F04) and formatter (F05) is reexecuted fromthe beginning. Causes of the activation of the reload process mayinclude a user operation with a reload (update) icon, a user operationwith a reload tool bar menu, JavaScript, etc.

The renovation process in the present invention, meaning the renovationof information displayed (page renovation process), is a process ofincorporating a new display-related setting (changed by the user) intothe display. Specifically, the renovation process corresponds to aprocess of restructuring the screen display without reacquiringalready-acquired content (html document, etc.) from the network. Morespecifically, the starting point of the reexecution (e.g. whether thesequence of processes has to be reexecuted from the parser (F03) or onlythe reexecution of the layout by the formatter (F05) is enough) variesdepending on the type of the setting. Prescribed settings as causes ofthe renovation process will be classified below into a class 1(requiring the reexecution from the parser (F03)), a class 2 (requiringthe reexecution from the page maker (F04)) and a class 3 (only requiringthe reexecution of the layout by the formatter (F05)):

Class 1: change in character encoding, enabling/disabling of JavaScript

Class 2: enabling/disabling of image, enabling/disabling of CSS(Cascading Style Sheets), enabling/disabling of a plug-in

Class 3: change in the scaling factor, change in the font

When the renovation process is requested by the user, the renovationprocess can be executed more efficiently by this embodiment and theusability can be enhanced in comparison with an operation thatreexecutes the sequence of processes from the acquisition of a markupdocument. Further, the usability in the reload process is similarlyimproved by this embodiment. In the following, the renovation processand the reload process in accordance with this embodiment will bedescribed in detail.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing a frame display process which isexecuted when the renovation process is requested (hereinafter simplyreferred to as “the renovation process”).

This process is activated when a user operation is performed in a statein which a frame selected by the user has been enlarged to be operable(e.g. the state of FIG. 4(c)). In the first step S201, whether the useroperation is a setting change, etc. requesting the renovation process ornot (i.e. whether the user operation is a cause of the renovationprocess or not) is judged. When the user operation is requesting therenovation process (S201: YES), the content is stored (S202) andthereafter the process advances to step S203. In other words, thecontent is not discarded in this case.

In the step S203, whether the cause of the renovation process is onerequiring the reexecution from the process by the parser (F03) or not isjudged. When the reexecution from the process by the parser (F03) isjudged to be necessary (S203: YES), the process advances to step S204.In the step S204, the current focus position and scroll position arestored (S204). Specifically, byte offsets of the currently focusedposition and the scroll position from the front end of the markuplanguage (ML) document are recorded. The byte offsets of the focusposition and scroll position recorded in this step will be used laterfor the restoration of the focus position and scroll position.

Subsequently, in step S205, the display is shifted to a display screenindicating all the frames (corresponding to the state of FIG. 4(d)). Instep S206, the interpretation of the ML document and the generation ofthe document tree are executed by the parser (F03) based on the settingchange. In step S207, the layout tree is regenerated by the page maker(F04). In step S208, whether the child frame which had been selected bythe user at the start of this process is in a reusable state or not isjudged. When the child frame is reusable (S208: YES), whether the childframe has been further frame-segmented or not is judged (S209). When nofurther frame segmentation has occurred in the child frame (S209: NO), are-layout process by the formatter (F05) is executed (S210).

Incidentally, the whole display of the frames (corresponding to FIG.4(d)) is continued while the process stays in a box B201 shown in FIG.20. In step S211, whether the user has performed an operation fordesignating another child frame in the frameset whole display state ornot is judged. When the user has performed an operation for designatinganother child frame in the frameset whole display state (S211: YES), thechild frame designated by the user is displayed (S214) since it isappropriate to display the designated child frame according to theuser's intention.

On the other hand, when the user has not performed an operation fordesignating another child frame in the frameset whole display state(S211: NO), a new zoom display screen of the original child frameaccording to the re-layout (S210) is displayed (S212), that is, thechild frame which had been selected by the user at the start of theprocess of FIG. 20 is displayed in the zoom display. In the next stepS213, a process for restoring the focus position and the scroll positionbased on the focus position and scroll position recorded in S204 isexecuted.

When the child frame is judged not to be reusable in the step S208(S208: NO) or when the child frame is judged to have been further framesegmented in the step S209 (S209: YES), it means that the original childframe which had been selected by the user is not a selectable frame. Inthis case, it is appropriate to supply the whole display of frames tothe user, and thus a re-layout process is executed in step S215. Afterthe step S215 or S213 is finished, this process is ended.

When the process by the parser (F03) is judged to be unnecessary in thestep S203 (S203: NO), the process advances to step S216. In the stepS216, the focus position and the scroll position are memorized.Specifically, nodes of the document tree corresponding to the focusposition and the scroll position are recorded. In the next step S217,whether the cause of the renovation process is one requiring thereexecution from the process by the page maker (F04) or not is judged.When the reexecution from the process by the page maker (F04) is judgedto be necessary (S217: YES), the whole display of frames is made in stepS218 and thereafter the process from the step S207 is executedsimilarly. Incidentally, when the process from S207 is executed via thesteps S216-S218, the nodes of the document tree recorded in S216 areused for the restoration of the focus position and scroll position inthe step S213.

When the reexecution from the process by the page maker (F04) is judgedto be unnecessary (S217: NO), the layout by the formatter is reexecuted(S219). Subsequently, the restoration of the focus position and scrollposition is made based on the nodes of the document tree recorded inS216 (S220) and thereafter this process is ended. Incidentally, a boxB202 in FIG. 20 indicates that the layout is updated without switchingfrom the original child frame which had been selected by the user (i.e.that the display does not return to the whole display in the box B202).The process in the box B202 is configured as above since the framestructure can not change in the re-format process and the layout can beupdated without switching from the original child frame in the casewhere it is judged that just executing the re-format is enough (S217:NO).

When the user operation is judged not to be requesting the renovationprocess in the step S201 (S201: NO), whether the user operation as thecause of activation of this process is requesting the reload process ornot is judged (S221). When the user operation is requesting the reloadprocess (S221: YES), the content is discarded (S222) and thereafter theprocess advances to the reload process (S223). The reload process willbe described in detail later referring to a flow chart of FIG. 26. Whenthe user operation is judged not to be requesting the reload process inS221 (S221: NO), this process is ended.

Incidentally, in the case where this process is ended when the useroperation is not requesting the renovation process (S201: NO) nor thereload process (S221: NO), it means that a user operation of a differenttype (anchor selection, etc.) has been performed. In this case, theframe display process in accordance with the first embodiment may beexecuted after ending this process. The steps S208 and S209 in FIG. 20correspond to a process (step) of making a judgment on informationregarding a display screen that has incorporated the setting change.

FIGS. 21(a)-21(e), FIGS. 23(a)-23(e), FIGS. 24(a)-24(e) and FIGS.25(a)-25(d) show examples of transitions of the frame display screencaused by the renovation process of FIG. 22.

A first example of transitions of the frame display screen caused by therenovation process will be explained below referring to FIGS.21(a)-21(e). First, as shown in FIG. 21(a), all the frames included inthe acquired page are displayed on the display screen in the wholedisplay. Incidentally, while the state inside each frame is representedsimply by a symbol A, B or C in FIGS. 21(a)-21(e) and subsequent similarfigures for simplicity of explanation, content is loaded and displayedin each frame A, B, C in the actual state. When the frame selectionbecomes possible, the user can move the focus as shown in FIG. 21(b) byoperating the directional key. The focused frame is indicated clearly bysurrounding the focused frame with a thick outline or graying outnon-focused frames, for example. In the example of FIG. 21(b), the frameB is assumed to be selected.

FIG. 21(c) shows a state in which the selected frame B has beendisplayed on the display screen in the zoom display as an active (i.e.operable) frame. When a setting change from “enabling of image” to“disabling of image” is made in the state of 21(c) as a user operation(setting change) as a cause of the renovation process, the process fromS207 via the steps S216-S218 is executed since the reexecution from thepage maker is necessary in this case. Thus, all the frames are displayedtemporarily (FIG. 23(d)). In this case, the judgment of S208 results in“YES” and the judgment of S209 results in “NO”, by which the displayautomatically returns to the zoom display of the original child frame B(FIG. 21(e)).

Incidentally, it is also possible to let the user select whether or notto make the transition from the whole display of FIG. 21(d) to the zoomdisplay of FIG. 21(e), instead of making the transition automatically.

When the user selects the frame C in the whole display state (FIG.22(d)) as shown in an example of FIG. 22(a), the transition to the zoomdisplay of the original child frame (FIG. 21(e)) is not made (step S211:YES, S214). Also when the structure of another frame has changed as aresult of the layout tree regeneration process (such a situation canoccur when JavaScript has turned from OFF to ON), the transition to thezoom display of the original child frame (FIG. 21(e)) is not made sincethe whole display of frames changes entirely as shown in FIG. 22(b). Insuch a situation, providing the whole display screen of frames isadvantageous to the user.

A second example of transitions of the frame display screen caused bythe renovation process will be explained below referring to FIGS.23(a)-23(e). First, as shown in FIG. 23(a), all the frames included inthe acquired page are displayed on the display screen in the wholedisplay. When the frame selection becomes possible, the user can movethe focus as shown in FIG. 23(b) by operating the directional key. Inthe example of FIG. 23(b), the frame B is assumed to be selected.

FIG. 23(c) shows a state in which the selected frame B has beendisplayed on the display screen in the zoom display as an active frame.When a setting change regarding the scaling factor is made in the stateof 23(c) as a user operation (setting change) as a cause of therenovation process, the steps S219 and S220 are executed since justreexecuting the layout is enough in this case. Thus, the original childframe is displayed again according to the changed scaling factor (FIG.23(e)). It is also possible to display a prescribed screen, indicatingthat the display is being updated, during the frame re-layout process(FIG. 23(d)).

A third example of transitions of the frame display screen caused by therenovation process will be explained below referring to FIGS.24(a)-24(e). This is an example of the restoration of the focus positionand scroll position. First, as shown in FIG. 24(a), all the framesincluded in the acquired page are displayed on the display screen. Whenthe frame selection becomes possible, the user can move the focus asshown in FIG. 24(b) by operating the directional key. In the example ofFIG. 24(b), the frame B is assumed to be selected.

FIG. 24(c) shows a state in which the selected frame B has beendisplayed on the display screen in the zoom display as an active frame.When a setting change from “enabling of image” to “disabling of image”is made in the state of FIG. 24(c) as a user operation (setting change)as a cause of the renovation process (assuming that the position FCIshown in FIG. 23(c) is the focus position just before the settingchange), the process from S207 via the steps S216-S218 is executed sincethe reexecution from the page maker is necessary in this case. Thus, allthe frames are displayed temporarily (FIG. 24(d)). In this case, thejudgment of S208 results in “YES” and the judgment of S209 results in“NO”, by which the display automatically returns to the zoom display ofthe original child frame B (FIG. 24(e)). By the focus/scroll positionrestoration process of S213, the scroll position is restored to theposition FC1 (FIG. 24(e)).

A fourth example of transitions of the frame display screen caused bythe renovation process will be explained below referring to FIGS.25(a)-25(d). First, as shown in FIG. 25(a), all the frames included inthe acquired page are displayed on the display screen. When the frameselection becomes possible, the user can move the focus as shown in FIG.25(b) by operating the directional key. In the example of FIG. 25(b),the frame B is assumed to be selected.

FIG. 25(c) shows a state in which the selected frame B has beendisplayed on the display screen in the zoom display as an active frame.When a setting change regarding the scaling factor is made in the stateof 23(c) as a user operation (setting change) as a cause of therenovation process (assuming that the position FC2 shown in FIG. 25(c)is the focus position just before the setting change), the steps S219and S220 are executed since just reexecuting the layout is enough inthis case. Thus, the original child frame is displayed again accordingto the changed scaling factor (FIG. 25(d)). By the focus/scroll positionrestoration process of S220, the scroll position is restored to theposition FC2 (FIG. 25(d)).

In the renovation process shown in FIG. 20, when the process is executedfrom the parser level or the page maker level, the whole display offrames is first made temporarily (S205, S218) and thereafter thejudgments based on the conditions (S208, S209, S211), the re-layoutprocess (S215) and the zoom display of the original child frame (S212)are executed. However, the whole display of frames is not necessarily arequisite. For example, a different display letting the user recognizethat the frame is being restructured (e.g. display of a blank page) maybe made instead of the whole display of frames.

FIG. 26 is a flow chart showing a frame display process which isexecuted when the reload process is requested (hereinafter simplyreferred to as “the reload process”). This process is activated when auser operation is performed in a state in which a frame selected by theuser has been enlarged to be operable (e.g. the state of FIG. 4(c)). Inthe first step S251, whether the user operation is a page updateinstruction requesting the reload process or not is judged. If the useroperation is requesting the reload process (S251: YES), the display isshifted to the whole display of frames (S252).

In the next step S253, the re-interpretation of a reacquired ML documentand the generation of the document tree are executed by the parser(F03). In the next step S254, the layout tree is regenerated by the pagemaker (F04). In step S255, whether the child frame which had beenselected by the user at the start of this process is in a reusable stateor not is judged. When the child frame is reusable (S255: YES), whetherthe child frame has been further frame-segmented or not is judged. Whenno further frame segmentation has occurred in the child frame (S210:YES), the process advances to step S257.

In the step S257, whether a change has occurred to an ancestor frame asa result of the frame restructuring or not is judged. When no change hasoccurred to any ancestor frame, the re-layout process by the formatter(FO5) is executed (S258). In the next step S259, whether the user hasperformed an operation for designating another child frame in theframeset whole display state or not is judged. When the user hasperformed an operation for designating another child frame in theframeset whole display state (S259: YES), the child frame designated bythe user is displayed (S261) since it is appropriate to display thedesignated child frame according to the user's intention. Thereafter,the process is ended. The steps S255, S256 and S257 in FIG. 26correspond to a process (step) of making ajudgment on informationregarding a display screen that has incorporated the setting change.

On the other hand, when the user has not performed an operation fordesignating another child frame in the frameset whole display state(S211: NO), a new zoom display screen of the original child frameaccording to the re-layout (S260) is displayed (S212) and thereafter theprocess is ended.

When the child frame is judged not to be reusable in the step S225(S225: NO), when the child frame is judged to have been further framesegmented in the step S256 (S256: YES), or when a change is judged tohave occurred to an ancestor frame in the step S257, a re-layout processis executed in step S262 since it is appropriate to supply the wholedisplay of frames to the user. Thereafter, the process is ended.

When the user operation is judged not to be requesting the reloadprocess in the step S251 (S251: NO), a different process correspondingto the user operation is executed (S263). Incidentally, in the box B05shown in FIG. 26, the whole display of frames is continued.

Examples of transitions of the frame display screen caused by the reloadprocess will be explained referring to FIGS. 27(a)-27(e). First, asshown in FIG. 27(a), all the frames included in the acquired page aredisplayed on the display screen in the whole display. When the frameselection becomes possible, the user can move the focus as shown in FIG.27(b) by operating the directional key. In the example of FIG. 27(b),the frame B is assumed to be selected.

FIG. 27(c) shows a state in which the selected frame B has beendisplayed on the display screen in the zoom display as an active frame.When an update instruction as a cause of the reload process is issued inthe state of 27(c), the process from S253 is executed. Thus, all theframes are displayed temporarily (FIG. 27(d)). When conditions “S255:YES”, “S256: NO”, “S257: NO” and “S259: NO” are satisfied, the displayautomatically returns to the zoom display of the original child frame B(FIG. 27(e) or FIG. 27(f)). Incidentally, it is also possible to let theuser select whether or not to make the transition from the whole displayof FIG. 27(d) to the zoom display of FIG. 27(e) or 27(f), instead ofmaking the transition automatically.

FIGS. 28(a) and 28(b) show an example in which the transition from theframeset whole display state (corresponding to FIG. 27(d)) to the zoomdisplay of the original child frame is not made. When the content hasbeen updated to different content by the reload and that has caused achange in the frame structure (FIG. 28(a)), the transition from theframeset whole display state to the zoom display of the original childframe (frame B) is not made and the display remains in the wholedisplay. Meanwhile, when another child frame is designated by the userin the frameset whole display state (FIG. 28(b)), the display is shiftedto a zoom display screen of the selected child frame since it isappropriate to display the designated child frame in the zoom display.

The above is the explanation of the second embodiment in accordance withthe present invention. As described above, by the second embodiment, therenovation process is executed efficiently. Proper screen transition ismade depending on conditions since the start of the renovation process,by which the usability is enhanced. The usability is enhanced also inthe reload process similarly since proper screen transition is madedepending on conditions also in the reload process.

Incidentally, while a simplified display (with simplified content) maybe made in each frame on the frameset whole display screen (FIG. 4(a),FIG. 21(a), etc.) in the above first and second embodiments, a displayin the operable state (similarly to the normal display of content) or adisplay partially allowing operations such as anchor selection may alsobe made in each frame on the frameset whole display screen.

1: A method for displaying a frame page, comprising the steps of:judging in a state in which an operation screen for operating a frame inthe frame page has been displayed whether a change occurring to a framein the page different from the currently displayed frame is a changearising from an operation satisfying a condition that is regarded torepresent a user's explicit intention to view the different frame ornot; and controlling display so that the display is shifted to a screenon which the page is displayed in whole display if the change is judgedby the judgment to be a change arising from an operation satisfying thecondition. 2: A frame displaying method, comprising the steps of:displaying a whole display screen on which the whole of an acquiredframe page is shown and selection of a frame is possible; displaying anoperation screen, on which a frame selected by a user is operable, whenthe frame is selected by the user on the whole display screen; andjudging in a state in which the operation screen has been displayedwhether a change occurring to a frame in the page different from theselected frame is a change arising from an operation satisfying a firstcondition that is regarded to represent a user's explicit intention toview the different frame or not, and shifting display to a display of ascreen, corresponding to the whole display and notifying the user of theframe to which the change has occurred, if the change is judged by thejudgment to be a change arising from an operation satisfying the firstcondition. 3: The frame displaying method according to claim 2, furthercomprising the step of: judging in the state in which the operationscreen has been displayed whether a change occurring to a frame in thepage different from the selected frame is a change arising from anoperation satisfying a second condition that is regarded not torepresent a user's explicit intention to view the different frame ornot, and controlling the display so that the transition to the displaycorresponding to the whole display is not made if the change is judgedby the judgment to be a change arising from an operation satisfying thesecond condition. 4: The frame displaying method according to claim 2,wherein the display is shifted to an operation screen on which the frameto which the change has occurred is operable automatically after thedisplay corresponding to the whole display is made due to the judgmentthat the change is a change arising from an operation satisfying thefirst condition. 5: The frame displaying method according to claim 2,wherein a display letting the user select whether to shift to anoperation screen, on which the frame to which the change has occurred isoperable, or not is made after the display corresponding to the wholedisplay is made due to the judgment that the change is a change arisingfrom an operation satisfying the first condition. 6: The framedisplaying method according to claim 2, wherein the operation satisfyingthe first condition includes at least one of the following operations:anchor selection caused by a user operation in the selected frame, formtransmission caused by a user operation in the selected frame, image mapselection caused by a user operation in the selected frame, and scriptoperation activated by a user operation in the selected frame. 7: Theframe displaying method according to claim 2, wherein the operationsatisfying the second condition includes at least one of the followingoperations: an operation occurring in the acquired page due to a markuplanguage or a communication protocol independently of user operations,and an operation of a script activated in the acquired pageindependently of user operations. 8: The frame displaying methodaccording to claim 2, wherein the display is controlled so that thetransition to the display corresponding to the whole display is not madewhen it is judged that a change occurs to data in the selected frame, aparent frame of the selected frame or an ancestor frame of the selectedframe in the state in which the operation screen has been displayed. 9:The frame displaying method according to claim 2, wherein the transitionto the display corresponding to the whole display is made when it isjudged that a change occurs to data in the selected frame, a parentframe of the selected frame or an ancestor frame of the selected framein the state in which the operation screen has been displayed. 10: Theframe displaying method according to claim 2, wherein a display lettingthe user select whether to shift to the display corresponding to thewhole display or not is made when it is judged that a change occurs todata in the selected frame, a parent frame of the selected frame or anancestor frame of the selected frame in the state in which the operationscreen has been displayed. 11: The frame displaying method according toclaim 2, wherein whether or not to shift to the display corresponding tothe whole display when it is judged that a change occurs to data in theselected frame, a parent frame of the selected frame or an ancestorframe of the selected frame in the state in which the operation screenhas been displayed is determined according to a user setting which hasbeen inputted previously. 12: The frame displaying method according toclaim 2, wherein the transition to the display corresponding to thewhole display is made when a change further segmenting the selectedframe into frames has occurred in the state in which the operationscreen has been displayed. 13: The frame displaying method according toclaim 2, wherein when the acquired frames are first displayed in thewhole display, the frames are set in a selectable state successivelyfrom a frame for which data acquisition has been completed. 14: Theframe displaying method according to claim 2, wherein when the framesare first displayed in the whole display, the frames are set in aselectable state successively from a frame that is judged, during dataacquisition for the frames, not to be further segmented into frames. 15:The frame displaying method according to claim 2, wherein the userselection of a frame on the whole display screen is made by moving afocus position by use of a directional key and operating a confirmationkey. 16: The frame displaying method according to claim 2, wherein theuser selection of a frame on the whole display screen is made by theuser's designation of one of operation buttons of the frames displayedon the display screen by use of an input pen. 17: The frame displayingmethod according to claim 2, wherein the user selection of a frame onthe whole display screen is implemented by letting the user perform anoperation for enlarging a desired frame and regarding a frame exceedinga prescribed size due to the user operation as a frame selected by theuser. 18: The frame displaying method according to claim 2, wherein theuser selection of a frame on the whole display screen is implemented byletting the user perform an operation for changing a display area of adesired frame and regarding a frame whose display area has exceeded aprescribed size due to the user operation as a frame selected by theuser. 19: The frame displaying method according to claim 2, wherein theuser selection of a frame on the whole display screen is implemented byassigning prescribed keys respectively to the frames and selecting aframe corresponding to one of the assigned keys that is operated by theuser. 20: The frame displaying method according to claim 2, furthercomprising the step of displaying a menu screen, allowing selection of atype of display screen to which the display should be shifted, on theoperation screen regarding the selected frame, wherein: the menu screenincludes an item for designating transition to the screen correspondingto the whole display. 21: The frame displaying method according to claim2, wherein: data regarding a scroll position or a focus position on theoperation screen of the selected frame is stored when the transitionfrom the state in which the operation screen of the selected frame hasbeen displayed to another screen such as the screen corresponding to thewhole display is made, and the stored data is used later for restorationof the focus position when the operation screen of the selected frame isdisplayed again. 22: The frame displaying method according to claim 2,wherein on the operation screen of the selected frame, the selectedframe is displayed in zoom display throughout the display screen. 23:The frame displaying method according to claim 2, wherein on theoperation screen of the selected frame, the selected frame and otherframes in the page are displayed at the same time while placing theselected frame at the top of the display screen. 24: The framedisplaying method according to claim 2, wherein on the operation screenof the selected frame, the selected frame and other frames in the pageare displayed at the same time as inline frames while placing theselected frame at the top of the display screen. 25: The framedisplaying method according to claim 2, wherein the notification of theframe to which the change has occurred is made on the displaycorresponding to the whole display by one of the following methods:setting the frame in a focused state, displaying the frame in blinkingdisplay, issuing a message, and displaying an icon overlaid on theframe. 26: The frame displaying method according to claim 2, whereincontent of each frame is displayed in each frame on the whole displayscreen. 27: The frame displaying method according to claim 2, whereinthe whole display screen regarding the acquired frame page and thescreen corresponding to the whole display which is displayed after thejudgment are thumbnail display screens of the page. 28: A computerprogram product comprising computer readable instructions, which, whenexecuted by a computer, are configured to: display a whole displayscreen on which the whole of an acquired frame page is shown andselection of a frame is possible; display an operation screen, on whicha frame selected by a user is operable, when the frame is selected bythe user on the whole display screen; and judge in a state in which theoperation screen has been displayed whether a change occurring to aframe in the page different from the selected frame is a change arisingfrom an operation satisfying a first condition that is regarded torepresent a user's explicit intention to view the different frame ornot, and shift display to a display of a screen, corresponding to thewhole display and notifying the user of the frame to which the changehas occurred, if the change is judged by the judgment to be a changearising from an operation satisfying the first condition. 29: A terminaldevice, comprising a controller configured to: display a whole displayscreen on which the whole of an acquired frame page is shown andselection of a frame is possible; display an operation screen on which aframe selected by a user is operable, when the frame is selected by theuser on the whole display screen; and judge in a state in which theoperation screen has been displayed whether a chance occurring to aframe in the page different from the selected frame is a change arisingfrom an operation satisfying a first condition that is regarded torepresent a user's explicit intention to view the different frame ornot, and shift display to a display of a screen, corresponding to thewhole display and notifying the user of the frame to which the changehas occurred, if the change is judged by the judgment to be a changearising from an operation satisfying the first condition. 30: A cellularphone comprising a controller configured to: display a whole displayscreen on which the whole of an acquired frame page is shown andselection of a frame is possible; display an operation screen on which aframe selected by a user is operable, when the frame is selected by theuser on the whole display screen; and judge in a state in which theoperation screen has been displayed whether a change occurring to aframe in the page different from the selected frame is a change arisingfrom an operation satisfying a first condition that is regarded torepresent a user's explicit intention to view the different frame ornot, and shift display to a display of a screen, corresponding to thewhole display and notifying the user of the frame to which the changehas occurred if the change is judged by the judgment to be a changearising from an operation satisfying the first condition. 31: Adisplaying method for making frame-incompatible display in which framesegmentation is not made, comprising the steps of: displaying anoperation screen on which a frame in an acquired frame page is operable;and judging in a state in which the operation screen has been displayedwhether a change occurring to a frame in the page different from thecurrently displayed frame is a change arising from an operationsatisfying a condition that is regarded to represent a user's explicitintention to view the different frame or not, and notifying the user ofthe frame to which the change has occurred if the change is judged bythe judgment to be a change arising from an operation satisfying thecondition. 32: The displaying method according to claim 31, wherein thenotification is made by displaying a dialog regarding the frame to whichthe change has occurred. 33: The displaying method according to claim31, wherein the notification is made by displaying a messagerepresenting the frame to which the change has occurred. 34: A computerprogram product comprising computer readable instructions, which, whenexecuted by a computer, cause the computer to implement the followingfunctions: a function of displaying a whole display screen on which thewhole of an acquired frame page is shown and selection of a frame ispossible; a function of displaying an operation screen, on which a frameselected by a user is operable, when the frame is selected by the useron the whole display screen; and a function of judging in a state inwhich the operation screen has been displayed whether a change occurringto a frame in the page different from the selected frame is a changearising from an operation satisfying a condition that is regarded torepresent a user's explicit intention to view the different frame ornot, and shifting display to a display of a screen, corresponding to thewhole display and notifying the user of the frame to which the changehas occurred, if the change is judged by the judgment to be a changearising from an operation satisfying the condition. 35: A terminaldevice comprising: a communication unit that acquires a page via anetwork; and a controller control means which is configured to executethe following sequence of processes (1)-(3) when the acquired page is aframe page: (1) displaying a whole display screen on which the whole ofan acquired frame page is shown and selection of a frame is possible;(2) displaying an operation screen, on which a frame selected by a useris operable, when the frame is selected by the user on the whole displayscreen; and (3) judging in a state in which the operation screen hasbeen displayed whether a change occurring to a frame in the pagedifferent from the selected frame is a change arising from an operationsatisfying a first condition that is regarded to represent a user'sexplicit intention to view the different frame or not, and shiftingdisplay to a display of a screen, corresponding to the whole display andnotifying the user of the frame to which the change has occurred, if thechange is judged by the judgment to be a change arising from anoperation satisfying the first condition. 36: The terminal deviceaccording to claim 35, wherein the controller further executes the stepof: (4) judging in the state in which the operation screen has beendisplayed whether a change occurring to a frame in the page differentfrom the selected frame is a change arising from an operation satisfyinga second condition that is regarded not to represent a user's explicitintention to view the different frame or not, and controlling thedisplay so that the transition to the display corresponding to the wholedisplay is not made if the change is judged by the judgment to be achange arising from an operation satisfying the second condition. 37:The terminal device according to claim 35 or 36, further comprising anoperation unit including a directional key and a confirmation key,wherein: the user selection of a frame on the whole display screen ismade by moving a focus position by use of the directional key andoperating the confirmation key. 38: The terminal device according toclaim 37, wherein the operation unit includes no pointing device formaking the frame selection. 39: A computer program product comprisingcomputer readable instructions, which, when executed by a computer fordisplaying a frame page, cause the computer to implement the followingfunctions: a function of judging in a state in which an operation screenfor operating a frame in the frame page has been displayed whether achange occurring to a frame in the page different from the currentlydisplayed frame is a change arising from an operation satisfying acondition that is regarded to represent a user's explicit intention toview the different frame or not; and a function of controlling displayso that the display is shifted to a screen on which the page isdisplayed in whole display if the change is judged by the judgment to bea change arising from an operation satisfying the condition. 40: A framedisplaying method comprising the steps of: displaying a whole displayscreen on which the whole of an acquired frame page is shown andselection of a frame is possible; displaying an operation screen, onwhich a frame selected by a user is operable, when the frame is selectedby the user on the whole display screen; judging in a state in which theoperation screen on which the selected frame is operable has beendisplayed whether a user operation for a setting change requesting apage renovation process has been performed or not; and controllingtransition of the display screen based on at least one of informationregarding a display screen that has incorporated the setting change anddetails of the setting change when the user operation has beenperformed. 41: The frame displaying method according to claim 40,wherein whether the operation screen on which the selected frame isoperable should be shifted to a whole display screen, incorporating thesetting change and showing all the frames, or to an operation screen,incorporating the setting change regarding the selected frame andletting the selected frame be operable, is controlled based on thedetails of the setting change. 42: The frame displaying method accordingto claim 40, wherein whether the operation screen on which the selectedframe is operable should be shifted to a whole display screen,incorporating the setting change and showing all the frames, or to anoperation screen, incorporating the setting change regarding theselected frame and letting the selected frame be operable, is controlledbased on information regarding a change in the display screen caused bythe incorporation of the setting change. 43: The frame displaying methodaccording to claim 42, wherein the transition of the display screen iscontrolled based on a frame selection operation by the user in a statein which the transition from the operation screen on which the selectedframe is operable to the whole display screen incorporating the settingchange and showing all the frames has been made based on the informationregarding the change in the display screen caused by the incorporationof the setting change. 44: The frame displaying method according toclaim 40, wherein a process selected from at least two processes: aprocess reexecuting layout only and a process requiringre-interpretation of content of the acquired frames, is executeddepending on the details of the setting change for generating thedisplay screen which has incorporated the setting change. 45: The framedisplaying method according to claim 40, wherein: data regarding ascroll position or a focus position on the operation screen of theselected frame is stored when the transition from the state in which theoperation screen of the selected frame has been displayed to anotherdisplay screen is made, and the stored data is used later forrestoration of the focus position or the scroll position when theoperation screen of the selected frame is displayed again. 46: A framedisplaying method comprising the steps of: displaying a whole displayscreen on which the whole of an acquired frame page is shown andselection of a frame is possible; displaying an operation screen, onwhich a frame selected by a user is operable, when the frame is selectedby the user on the whole display screen; judging in a state in which theoperation screen on which the selected frame is operable has beendisplayed whether a user operation requesting a reload process has beenperformed or not; and controlling transition of the display screen basedon information regarding a display screen that has incorporated thereload process when the user operation has been performed. 47: The framedisplaying method according to claim 46, wherein whether the operationscreen on which the selected frame is operable should be shifted to awhole display screen, incorporating the reload process and showing allthe frames, or to an operation screen, incorporating the reload processregarding the selected frame and letting the selected frame be operable,is controlled based on information regarding a change in the displayscreen caused by execution of the reload process. 48: The framedisplaying method according to claim 47, wherein the transition of thedisplay screen is controlled based on a frame selection operation by theuser in a state in which the transition from the operation screen onwhich the selected frame is operable to the whole display screenincorporating the reload process and showing all the frames has beenmade based on the information regarding the change in the display screencaused by the incorporation of the reload process. 49: The framedisplaying method according to claim 46, wherein: data regarding ascroll position or a focus position on the operation screen of theselected frame is stored when the transition from the state in which theoperation screen of the selected frame has been displayed to anotherdisplay screen is made, and the stored data is used later forrestoration of the focus position or the scroll position when theoperation screen of the selected frame is displayed again. 50: Acomputer program product comprising computer readable instructions,which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement thefollowing functions: a function of displaying a whole display screen onwhich the whole of an acquired frame page is shown and selection of aframe is possible; a function of displaying an operation screen, onwhich a frame selected by a user is operable, when the frame is selectedby the user on the whole display screen; a function of judging in astate in which the operation screen on which the selected frame isoperable has been displayed whether a user operation for a settingchange requesting a page renovation process has been performed or not;and a function of controlling transition of the display screen based onat least one of information regarding a display screen that hasincorporated the setting change and details of the setting change whenthe user operation has been performed. 51: A computer program productcomprising computer readable instructions, which, when executed by acomputer, cause the computer to implement the following functions: afunction of displaying a whole display screen on which the whole of anacquired frame page is shown and selection of a frame is possible; afunction of displaying an operation screen, on which a frame selected bya user is operable, when the frame is selected by the user on the wholedisplay screen; a function of judging in a state in which the operationscreen on which the selected frame is operable has been displayedwhether a user operation requesting a reload process has been performedor not; and a function of controlling transition of the display screenbased on information regarding a display screen that has incorporatedthe reload process when the user operation has been performed. 52: Aterminal device comprising: a communication unit that acquires a pagevia a network; and a controller which is configured to execute thefollowing processes (1)-(4) when the acquired page is a frame page: (1)displaying a whole display screen on which the whole of an acquiredframe page is shown and selection of a frame is possible; (2) displayingan operation screen, on which a frame selected by a user is operable,when the frame is selected by the user on the whole display screen; (3)judging in a state in which the operation screen on which the selectedframe is operable has been displayed whether a user operation for asetting change requesting a page renovation process has been performedor not; and (4) controlling transition of the display screen based on atleast one of information regarding a display screen that hasincorporated the setting change and details of the setting change whenthe user operation has been performed. 53: A terminal device comprising:a communication unit that acquires a page via a network; and acontroller which is configured to execute the following processes(1)-(4) when the acquired page is a frame page: (1) displaying a wholedisplay screen on which the whole of an acquired frame page is shown andselection of a frame is possible; (2) displaying an operation screen, onwhich a frame selected by a user is operable, when the frame is selectedby the user on the whole display screen; (3) judging in a state in whichthe operation screen on which the selected frame is operable has beendisplayed whether a user operation requesting a reload process has beenperformed or not; and (4) controlling transition of the display screenbased on information regarding a display screen that has incorporatedthe reload process when the user operation has been performed.